Interactive: March 13-17
Film: March 13-21
Music: March 18-22
"In its 22 years, SXSW has grown from a tiny music festival in the Texas capital into a massive, unavoidable media beast that reflects, discusses and showcases trends in culture and media but also often creates them." National Post, 3/13/08
If you are one of the 20,000 industry professionals who are starting to make plans to attend SXSW Music, Film or Interactive in 2009, you may also want to find out about ways in which you can reduce your carbon footprint during our events. Did you know that a carbon footprint has two parts: primary - emissions generated by the things you do and secondary - emissions produced in the manufacturing of products and services that you buy? You can plan to reduce both at SXSW by using less energy, using cleaner energy and supporting companies that are doing the same.
Whether you are registering for SXSW, applying for a music showcase or submitting a film, we are proud that switching to secure web-based communications has made SXSW more efficient and has greatly reduced the amount of paper used in our offices.
Factoid: The SXSW paperless revolution was kickstarted four years ago by the Musicfest Department with the switch to electronic showcase applications. Two years ago the Registration Department went paperless and saved 12,000 sheets of paper a year. Last year was the turn of the Interactive Department year to move from paper to online and this year the Film Department are making the switch.
Factoid: In 2007 and 2008 more than half of SXSW's official hotels attended a "sustainable hospitality" brainstorming session that we hosted and 35 responded to our ‘Green Actions’ Survey. Of these, 27 have installed energy saving measures, 25 have installed guest key card systems and 24 have installed compact fluorescent bulbs. 21 SXSW hotels have office recycling facilities, 16 use water conservation fixtures, and 20 train staff in conservation and energy procedures. Just 2 hotels purchase renewable energy but 4 hotels offer guest room recycling facilities and 5 survey guest views on their Green Actions. 76% of hotels surveyed agreed that implementing ‘green actions’ generates new business. How does your SXSW hotel stack up? (Source 1)
Factoid: Carbon offsets enable individuals and businesses to reduce the CO2 emissions they are responsible for by offsetting, reducing or displacing the CO2 in another place, typically where it is more economical to do so. Carbon offsets typically include renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects. (Source 2)
Factoid: one ton of CO2 (a flight from New York to London) correlates to the volume of a swimming pool, 10 metre wide, 25 metre long and 2 metre deep (Source 3)
Factoid: Aviation contributes to climate change in a number of ways. Aircraft emit carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX), they cause vapor trails and influence the formation of cirrus clouds, all of which increase the natural greenhouse effect. (Source 4)
When you are considering which products and services to use to market your company or artist at SXSW, we recommend that you think about how environmentally sustainable they are and make informed choices. It’s the combined impact of small actions by you and many other like-minded people that all add up to reduce environmental impacts.
Factoid: Avoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year! (Source 6)
Factoid: By opting to pay $1.25 per rental, Enterprise Rent-a-Car customers will fund certified offset projects that work to remove CO2 released into the atmosphere. This cost is based on the average CO2 emissions generated by our average rental. And they will match customer contributions dollar-for-dollar up to a total of $1 million. Through this program, they have joined with TerraPass to help their customers make an easy, sustainable choice to make their car rental "carbon neutral." (Source 7)
Factoid: In the UK leaving appliances on standby creates one million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year. This wastes enough electricity to power UK street lighting for over 4 years, produces enough CO2 to fill over 20 million double decker buses or over 730 million hot air balloons and wastes electricity equivalent to the annual energy needs of nearly 400,000 homes. (Source 8)
Factoid: Using power management features on your computer can save more than 600 KWh of electricity and more than $60 a year in energy costs. That equates to nearly half a ton of CO2 – more than lowering your home thermostat by two degrees Fahrenheit in the winter or replacing six standard light bulbs with compact fluorescents (Source 9)
Factoid: In a recent poll, 57% of workers said they turn off computers at home when they are done using them, whereas only 34% do so at work (Source 10)
Attend panels during SXSW Film, Interactive and Music Conferences that have a green agenda.
Factoid In May 2008, Austin City Council approved Resolution No. 20080522-024 directing the City Manager to eliminate City purchase of disposable plastic water bottles for use inside governmental facilities in City Hall and to present a plan to the City Council for reducing plastic bottle use in all City operations (source 10)